Perks of living in a hostel- My college life experience

I enjoy writing content, The classes held on creative writing helped me understand the importance of language and trained me to write for different formats- including press releases, articles. scripts for radio shows, etc. I gained lot of practical writing knowledge while pursuing the course. Subjects like media laws and development communication were taught further during post-graduation diploma. Prior learning hepled me in retaining the concepts well. The 10 marks unit test, held twice a semester were held for 90 minutes, while semester exams (theory), held for 70 marks were completed in 3 hours. The practicals during semester exams were held for 30 marks, which included assignments or file submission and viva.

There were not too many options available for campus placement and internship, except for a few event management companies that came for interview. However they offered only 8,000 rs. stipend. As an internship was compulsory in the second year, we contacted companies on our own. I worked for a community radio station based in my hometown for 2 months at no stipend. Some of my audio samples were even broadcasted by the radio station.

Course fee for first year was 1,79,500 Rs and for the second and third year it was 1,57,000 Rs. each. Hostel fee was fixed at 55,000 Rs. per 11 months. Admission fee was 5,000 rs, while the admission form cost was 800 rs. Security deposit was 10,000 rs per student. examination fee was 3,500 rs, while they charged 21,000 rs as development fee.

A departmental fest for our course called Carvaan was held every year in December. We also had five-fold (extracurricular) activities including sports, martial arts, music and dance etc. I was a part of theatre club for two semesters. The central library had a wide range of books and research papers on every possible subject that could be issued for 10 days.

I lived in the hostel (it was a fully residential university). Most of the rooms had 3, while some had four beds. We were provided with one-door almirah, a study table and a single-bed with storage space per person. There was one common almirah used by all roomated of the room. We had table fans attached on the wall for each bed, instead of regular ceiling fans. The food menu was fixed, however during festivals and an yearly celebration we got special dishes. Special food was given on tuesdays, along with sweets. Sometimes we got chaach and aam panna drinks as well. Food was okay. Early birds were allowed to choose a room, while latecomers had to adjust with whatever available. Hostel allocation and fee was a part of the college admission process and had no specific procedure.

I chose Banasthali because it was affordable and safer. Also the admission procedure did not require any entrance test or interviews, so it was easy. Though I wanted to choose Delhi University or a college in Mumbai, considering living alone in a metro city. However, waiting for CUET meant wasting months in preparation and I did not want to waste any time. I had even applied at one of delhi university colleges, but before I could get an answer, my admission was accepted at Banasthali Vidyapith, so I decided to continue there. The admission for my course was purely merit-based, However, entrance test was held for B. Tech and some other courses.

The teaching faculty of core subjects was friendly and linient with the student. In the second year, (first year was completed through online classes and examinations due to covid-19), the student to teacher ratio was 1:75. Howeaver, during the final year, as we proceeded to choosing specialised subjects, the student to teacher ratio decreased significantly to 1:3 and 1:12, etc. I enjoyed the film direction and radio lab subjects a lot. We had unit tests (weightage- 10 marks) twice a semester and semester examinations (weightage- 70 marks) every semester, They were easy. The course was relevant in my broadcast journalism course later on.

We had canteens, gym and two libraries, along with the indoor sports area, However, the indoor sports area and gym would close by 6:30 pm and canteens remained open till 8:30 or sometimes 9 pm, while the library closed at 6 pm. The administration office would be closed by 6:30 pm. Our hostel gates would be locked by 9 pm, though It was safe to roam around at night as it was a girls university, We could not and needed not to go out of the campus as we had facilities available in the campus only.